“The Media”

Posted On 19 Jul 2017 / 0 Comment

0 Comment

Unless you’ve ever been a member of the media, you really don’t understand the power of the media. Sure, there’s the whole “bully pulpit” thing. Newspapers, magazines, radio, television and internet media sources (including social media) can all distribute facts and opinions to the masses in close to real time. Back in the day when newspapers were king, their power was described thusly: “never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel.” Good advice a century ago … and still valid, with some updating due today to reflect the advances in media technology…

…Today, big media has as much power as it ever had. It’s just in a lot fewer hands. Shutdowns, mergers. and layoffs have hit newspaper and television newsrooms hard. Just watch local TV news and see how quickly field reporters go out and come in. They either move up to a bigger market or move on to a better-paying public relations job… only to be replaced by another greenhorn who can’t pronounce “McCallie,” “Whitwell,” or “Lafayette.”…

…Still, the biggest power of the media comes not in what makes the news… but it what doesn’t. One local example illustrates this well. Many years ago, an enterprising reporter at The Chattanooga Times found out that a senior-level Hunter Museum staff member was using labor and materials approved for a Hunter project to do some major remodeling on his own home. The Times’ reporter had the story… and some folks willing to go on the record. The story never ran. The late Ruth Holmberg was a longtime supporter of The Hunter Museum and she “spiked” the story. That was her right. She was then the publisher of the paper. What happened to the Times reporter who uncovered the spiked story? He went to win a Pulitzer Prize… for another paper…

…That kind of stuff goes on all the time at higher levels as well. A phone call here or an email there and stories go from being tomorrow’s headlines to being stored in some computer files from whence they will never emerge. What causes a media outlet to spike a story like that? Political pressure. Special interest pressure. Advertiser pressure. You get it…

…So now we have a president who is at war with the “mainstream media.” Most people are turning a deaf ear to Trump’s tirades against “fake news.” The president defines “fake news” as anything he disagrees with. He doesn’t care how well stories are sourced or documented. Meanwhile, his own list of well-documented falsehoods just keeps growing…

…You don’t have to dig too hard to find shreds of stories about Trump that have never been published or aired. The man has tiny hands… but his wallet is relatively yuge. Who knows if or when we’ll really know how many sexual assault charges were nipped in the bud by a quick payoff… or how many other Russians Trump and his campaign staff were talking to? It’s all fake news until someone has the guts to publish or air it…